Voxeu

Differences in labour market outcomes between East and West Germany persist, 30 years after reunification. Using high-quality administrative data from Germany, this column documents that East German plants face a steeper size–wage curve than West German ones, invest less in marketing, remain smaller, and, on average, pay lower wages.

Mortgage payment holidays were introduced in the UK March 2020 to help households who might have struggled with mortgage payments during the Covid-19 pandemic. Using transaction-level data, this column finds that payment holidays supported consumption during the pandemic for more financially vulnerable households, while more financially stable households on a payment holiday increased their savings instead. These results suggests that payment holidays may have been instrumental in supporting household balance-sheets following the negative aggregate shock triggered by Covid-19. 

We tend to associate rioting and mass protest with cities, but a surge in agricultural commodity prices can incite social unrest in rural areas as well. This column shows that rising cereal prices pose an elevated risk of violence in Africa, where agriculture represents a large share of the economy. The authors find that attacks on civilians increase during the harvest season and dissipate as the year progresses – findings that can help pinpoint, on a yearly basis, when conflicts will worsen and where enhanced food security and civilian protections should be deployed.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues and many call for a strengthening of sanctions, an alternative to a full energy embargo has been discussed in the form of EU tariffs on imports of Russian gas. The IGM Forum at Chicago Booth invited its panels of leading US and European economists to express their views. As this column reports, nearly three-quarters of the experts consider that high tariffs would be an effective measure to reduce the flow of revenues to Russia while limiting disruption to supplies to Europe.